Shoe and shoe manufacture



Dec. 29, 1936. K. ENGEL SHOE'AND SHOE MANUFACTURE Filed July. 2, 1934 Patented Dec. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Karl Engel,

Swampscott, Mass.,

assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application July 2, 1934, Serial No. 733,374

16 Claims.

The present invention relates to shoes and their manufacture and is herein illustrated in its application to the manufacture of pre-welted shoes, that is, shoes in which the welt is secured to the upper before the upper is lasted.

In the manufacture of pre-welted shoes, as in the manufacture of shoes generally, it has been found desirable to provide the shoe with an insole to which the upper may be secured in order to retain the shape imparted to it by the last. It has, however, been a usual practice in the manufacture of pre-welted shoes to omit the insole in order to reduce the cost of manufacture, in which case the upper is held in lasted condition for a time by the seam securing the outsole to the welt but in the course of wear the shoe tends to spread because the seam which holds it together is located exteriorly of the lasted margin of the upper and consequently there is no substantial resistance to the pressure of the foot against the sides of the upper.

One object of the present invention is to reduce the cost of manufacturing pre-welted shoes provided with insoles, particularly with respect to the lasting operation. A further object is to provide a pre-welted upper which is particularly adapted to be lasted on a bed lasting machine such, for example, as that disclosed in the copending application of the present applicant, Serial No. 719,018, for Methods of and machines for use in manufacturing boots and shoes. A still further object of the invention is to provide a pre-Welted shoe in which the seam securing the outsole-attaching welt to the upper is largely concealed in the finished shoe, thereby obviating the grinning, so called, of said seam, which is a common objection to pre-welted shoes.

In one aspect thereof, the present invention comprises positioning an insole-attaching welt between an upper and an outsole-attaching welt, preferably though not necessarily with a finished edge of the insole-attaching welt arranged exteriorly of the upper, and uniting the upper and the welts, for example by stitching. As illustrated, the insole-attaching welt is provided with a corded edge arranged exteriorly of and adjacent to the seam uniting the upper and the welts and serving to conceal the seam. In another of its aspects the invention consists in so arranging an insole-attaching welt relatively to the margin of the upper that the major portion of the welt extends beyond the edge of the upper in order to afiord means for connecting the upper to the insole and for holding the upper in lasted condition.

Features of the invention are to be recognized in a novel pre-welted upper having an outsoleattaching welt with an in ole-attaching welt arranged between the upper and the outsoleattaching welt and provided preferably with a finished edge positioned exteriorly of the upper. As illustrated, the finished edge of the insoleattaching welt is arranged adjacent to the seam uniting the upper and the welts and is corded in order to increase its thickness and thereby to enable it more completely to conceal said seam.

These and other aspects and features of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing and will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a welt guide which may be employed in the manufacture of pre-welted shoes as hereinafter described;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the welt guide illustrated in Fig. 1, including a fragmental view of work mounted therein;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation taken substantially on the line III-III of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional elevation taken substantially on the line IV-IV of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional elevation taken on the line VV of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a somewhat diagrammatic cross section through the forepart of a pre-welted upper embodying certain features of the present invention; and

Fig. 7 is a similiar section through the forepart of a shoe provided with a pre-Welted upper such as that illustrated in Fig. 6.

The illustrated pre-welted shoe, which constitutes a preferred embodiment of the present invention, has an upper Ill (Figs. 6 and 7) to the margin of which there is secured by a seam I2 an outsole-attaching welt I4 'and an insoleattaching welt I6, the latter being positioned between the upper and the outsole-attaching welt and so arranged that its major portion extends inwardly of the shoe bottom from the seam I2 and lies between the under surface of an insole 20, to which it is adhesively secured, and the upper surface of an outsole 24 to which, if desired, it may also be adhesively secured. As herein illustrated, the insole-attaching welt I6 is a thin strip of grain leather, one margin of which is folded over upon and secured to the flesh surface of the adjacent portion of the strip, for example, by a zigzag seam indicated in Fig. 2. The seam I2, as best shown in Fig. 5, extends through the folded margin of the insole-attaching welt I 6 near its folded edge, leaving a narrow Width of the folded portion of the welt extending outwardly of the upper from the seam I2 and arranged to provide a rounded edge I! in which only the grain surface of the leather is exposed. The rounded edge IT, as illustrated in Fig'.' 7, is positioned exteriorly of the finished shoe and provides an ornamental bead which is arranged,

face 39 of the welt 20.

in connection with the outsole-attaching welt l4, to seal the joint between the upper l0 and the welt l4, partaking of the nature of storm welting. The rounded edge I! of the insole-attaching welt also serves to conceal the seam I2. thereby preventing, to a large extent, the occurrence of grinning seams, and thus obviating a common objection to prior art pre-welted shoes. In order to increase the thickness of the exposed, rounded edge I! of the insole-attaching welt, a length of cylindrical material, for example the cord I8 shown in Fig. 5, may be secured within the fold of the welt strip. Preferably the cord I8 is composed of a soft, fibrous material which will offer no appreciable resistance to the gathering of the leather at the toe end of the upper incidental to the lasting operation.

As illustrated in Fig. 7 the insole 20 is provided with a marginal lip or'feather 22 arranged to overlie the seam I2 and to provide a smooth, even surface in the interior of the shoe. The outsole 24 is secured to the outsole-attaching welt l4 by the seam 26 and preferably is adhesively secured to the insole 20 and also to the inwardly extending portion of the insole-attaching welt l6.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 there is illustrated a work supporting and welt guiding mechanism which may be employed in the manufacture of prewelted shoes in accordance with the present invention, said mechanism embodying the subjectmatter of an application of the present applicant, Serial No. 733,375, filed concurrently herewith.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, the illustrated welt guiding mechanism consists of a member 30 made of sheet material, for example, hardened steel, having an arm 32 extending laterally therefrom and shaped to provide. a guideway for the outsole-attaching welt l4 and having an arm 34 constructed and arranged to provide a guideway for the insole-attaching welt I6. As herein illustrated, the member 30 is secured to the presser post 36 of a chain stitch sewing machine of the familiar Puritan type in which a straight needle 64 moves upwardly from beneath the work table 40 and through a slot 65 (Fig. 2) formed in the table, the needle being arranged for movement lengthwise of the slot in order to feed the work. The longitudinal median line of the slot 65 defines the seam line or line of feed of the sewing machine. The member 30 extends forwardly from the presser post 36 in parallel relation to the feed slot 65. The arm 32 extends laterally from the body portion of the member 30, the portion of said arm adjacent to the body portion of the member providing a horizontal support 38 for the stitch-receiving margin of the outsole-attaching welt. The horizontal support 38, as shown in Fig. 3, extends slightly beyond the seam line and from that point the arm 32 inclines upwardly and to the left, said inclined surface extending slightly beyond the outer edge The remaining'portion of the arm-32 provides an end wall 42 and an upper wall 44 of the welt guideway. A flange 46 is formed in the end of the arm 32 and located in a vertical 'alinement with the seam line, said flange being arranged for guiding engagement within the stitch-receiving groove 48 of the outsole-attaching welt in order to position said groove for the reception of the seam. The arm 34 which provides the guideway for the insole- 54 of the insole-attaching welt I6 (Fig. 3) arranged to bend the inner portion 54 upwardly in order to position it for engagement with the upper gaging member 62 (Fig. 4) as the work is fed through the machine. The arm 34 extends laterally from the bottom of the wall 52 in order to provide a horizontal welt supporting surface 56 (Fig. 1) extending across the seam line and spaced below the under surface of the arm 32 a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the welt l6 (Fig. 3). The end of the arm 34 is rolled as indicated at 58 in Fig. 3 in order to provide a tubular guideway for the corded portion I! of the insole-attaching welt 24, the end face of the arm 34 being spaced above the horizontal portion 54 of the arm sufficiently to provide the necessary clearance for the double thickness of the welt I 6 adjacent'to its corded portion. In order to provide means for applying pressure to the upper adjacent to the stitching point and means for preventing upward movement of the welts as the needle passes through the work in the course of its upward stroke, the arms 32 and 34, as shown in Fig. 2, are arranged with their rearward edge faces substantially adjacent to the needle 64.

The outsole-attaching welt l4 as it comes from the welt guide is bent in the region of the seam l2, as shown in Fig. 5, thereby disposing the outwardly extending portion of the welt l4 at an acute angle to the adjacent portion of the upper II], the stitch-receiving groove 48 providing a fold line extending lengthwise of the welt which defines more or less generally the apex of the angle of the welt. The stitch-receiving groove 48 also affords a portion of the welt of reduced thickness, thereby facilitating the welt-bending operation. The bending of the outsole-attaching welt l4, as above described, provides a space between the welt and the upper for the reception of the wipers of a bed lasting machine and makes it unnecessary for the lasting machine operator to bend the welt outwardly from the upper with his fingers prior to the lasting operation.

While the present invention has been illustrated in its application to the manufacture of pre-welted shoes provided with both an outsoleattaching welt and an insole-attaching welt it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment, but is applicable in certain of its aspects to the manufacture of shoes which are not provided with an insole-attaching welt, and in other of its aspects to the manufacture of shoes which are not provided with an outsole-attaching welt.

In lasting the pre-welted shoe above described on a bed lasting machine such as that disclosed in the copending application of the present applicant, Serial No. 719,018, above referred to, the upper It! with the welts l4 and I6 secured thereto is suspended by the outsole-attaching welt 14 upon wiper plates 16 of the lasting machine. Preferably the last is inserted into the upper after the upper has been suspended upon the wiper plates. The last is then pressed downwardly into the supported upper by means disclosed in said copending application, whereupon the wipers are advanced in order to bring the inner edge face 12 of the upper l0 into engagement with the shoulder 14 formed in the insole 20 and to dispose the major portion of the insole-attaching welt 16 above the margin of the insole 20. Preferably a suitable adhesive such, for example, as rubber cement or latex adhesive has been applied to the adjacent surfaces of the insole-attaching welt and the insole prior to the lasting operation and is in condition to create a permanent bond between said parts when the wipers have advanced the upper into lasted relation to the insole. After the wipers have been advanced, the operator wipes the insole-attaching welt l6 over the marginal portion of the insole 20 with his fingers or with an implement such, for example, as a knife handle. It is not necessary to apply pressure to the insole-attaching welt at this stage in the operation since the pressure applied to the shoe bottom in the outsole-attaching operation serves to press the insole-attaching welt against the insole suificiently to create a. bond therebetween.

The above-described method of lasting the novel pre-welted shoe of the present invention is merely illustrative and it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this method of lasting pre-welted shoes.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. That improvement in the art of manufacturing shoes which comprises forming an insoleattaching welt with a finished edge, positioning said insole-attaching welt between an upper and an outsole-attaching welt with the finished edge arranged exteriorly of the upper, and uniting the upper and the welts.

2. That improvement in the art of manufacturing pre-welted shoes which comprises forming an insole-attaching welt with a corded edge, positioning said insole-attaching welt between an upper and an outsole-attaching welt with only the corded edge arranged exteriorly of the upper, and uniting the upper and the welts.

3. That improvement in the art of manufacturing pre-welted shoes which comprises forming an insole-attaching welt with a corded finished edge, positioning said insole-attaching welt between an upper and an outsole-attaching welt, and stitching together the upper and the welts with: the corded edge of the insole-attaching welt arranged exteriorly of and adjacent to the seam in order to conceal the seam.

4. That improvement in the art of manufacturing shoes which comprises forming an insoleattaching welt from a strip of grain leather by folding a marginal portion of the strip over upon the flesh surface of the major portion thereof, securing said marginal portion to said major portion, and securing the insole-attaching welt thus formed to the margin of an upper with the major portion of the welt extending beyond the edge of the upper.

5. A pre-welted shoe upper having an outsoleattaching welt, and an insole-attaching welt positioned between the upper and the outsole-attaching welt and arranged to extend beyond the edge of the upper.

6. A pre-welted shoe upper having an outsoleattaching welt and an insole-attaching welt arranged between the upper and the outsoleattaching welt and provided with an edge positioned exteriorly of the upper.

'7. A pro-welted shoe upper having an outsoleattaching welt and an insole-attaching welt arranged between and stitched to the upper and the outsole-attaching welt and provided with a folded edge positioned exteriorly of the upper and adjacent to said stitching.

8. A pre-welted shoe upper having an outsoleattaching welt and an insole-attaching welt arranged between the upper and the outsoleattaching welt and provided with a corded edge positioned exteriorly of the upper.

9. A pre-welted shoe upper having an outsoleattaching welt and an insole-attaching welt arranged between the upper and the outsoleattaching welt and provided with a finished edge positioned exteriorly of the upper, said outsoleattaching welt being arranged to project outwardly from the welted margin of the upper.

10. A pre-welted shoe upper having an outsoleattaching welt and an insole-attaching welt arranged between the upper and the outsoleattaching welt and provided with a corded edge positioned exteriorly of the upper, said outsoleattaching welt being grooved in order to provide a fold line extending lengthwise of the welt, the welt being bent at said fold line in order to cause it to project outwardly from the welted margin of the upper.

11. An upper having secured in contactual relation to its outer face an insole-attaching Welt which consists of a strip of grain leather, a marginal portion of which is folded over upon the flesh surface of the major portion thereof and united thereto, said strip being arranged with its major portion extending beyond the edge of the upper thereby affording means for connecting the upper to an insole and to hold the upper in lasted condition.

12. A pro-welted shoe having an upper, an outsole-attaching welt, an insole-attaching welt arranged between the upper and the outsoleattaching welt, fastenings securing said welts to the upper, and an insole connected to the upper by means of the insole-attaching welt.

13. A pre-welted shoe comprising an upper, an outsole, an outsole-attaching welt, an insoleattaching welt arranged between the upper and the outsole-attaching welt, a seam securing said welts to the upper, and an insole connected to the upper by means of the insole-attaching welt and provided with a marginal lip arranged to overlie said seam, said welt being located between the insole and the outsole and secured to the insole by cement.

14. A pre-welted shoe having an upper, an outsole-attaching welt, an insole-attaching welt arranged between the upper and the outsoleattaching welt and provided with a corded edge positioned exteriorly of the upper, fastenings securing said welts to the upper, and an insole connectedto the upper by means of the insoleattaching welt.

15. A pre-Welted shoe comprising an upper, an outsole-attaching welt, an insole-attaching welt arranged between the upper and the outsoleattaching welt and provided with a corded edge positioned exteriorly of the upper, a seam securing said welts to the upper, and an insole connected to the upper by means of the insoleattaching welt and provided with a marginal lip arranged to overlie said seam, said Welt being located between the insole and the outsole and secured to the insole by cement.

16. A pre-welted shoe comprising an upper, an outsole, an outsole-attaching welt, an insoleattaching welt arranged between the upper and the outsole-attaching welt, a seam securing said welts to the upper, and an insole connected to the upper by means of the insole-attaching welt, said welt being located between the insole and the outsole and secured to the insole by cement.

KARL EN GEL. 

